The St. Louis River Alliance is partnering with Community Action Duluth on a project called the Duluth Stream Corps. Funded by a grant from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the project has hired a crew of six to perform stream restoration work in the Duluth area. The project’s goal is to help restore Duluth’s coldwater streams by planting 20,000 trees on privately owned streamside land throughout the Duluth area.

Duluth’s streams are under stress from a variety of factors including warm water run-off from impervious surfaces, clearing of streamside vegetation and high sediment levels from erosion. People living near Duluth’s streams are welcome to join our project. Small actions like planting native trees can benefit water quality of streams and ponds around Duluth and even the St. Louis River.

The Stream Corps has a team of experts volunteering to advise the project. Called the Habitat Action Team (HAT), members of the group have a wide variety of backgrounds, from city planning to landscape architecture to natural resources. The work of the HAT is being facilitated by the St. Louis River Alliance and includes these professionals:

In 2011, the crew from the Duluth Stream Corps Project started work to plant trees and shrubs along local streams for habitat restoration purposes. The project has sent mailings to streamside property owners and held several neighborhood meetings. Community response has been encouraging. Two hundred replies have been received and dozens of people showed up at the neighborhood meetings. The Stream Corps is in the process of conducting site evaluations on properties and have completed over 60 projects so far.

River Video Viewpoints

The Great Lakes, a vital asset to 35 million residents, have a legacy of pollution due to our nation's industrial past. The Great Legacy Act revitalizes rivers, lakes, and harbors, known as Areas of Concern, helping to restore lost benefits. Click on the video to see how!